Nightwalkers
by Bruce Lanier Wright
Taylor Publishing $17.95, paper
Anyone who was fortunate enough
to pick up a copy of Wright’s previous book Yesterday’s Tomorrows: The
Golden Age of Science Fiction Movie Posters (and if you haven’t, do so)
which illuminated the SF film cycle of the Fifties and early Sixties in a
remarkably informative and entertaining manner, has likely read through it
several times and wished for more. Your wish has been granted.
Nightwalkers focuses on the cycle of gothic horror films made between
1957 and 1976 and is an equally superb piece of work that, although somewhat
different in content and tone from its predecessor, makes a perfect companion
volume to Yesterday’s Tomorrows. Where Yesterday’s Tomorrows devoted almost half its space to poster reproductions, Nightwalkers concerns itself almost exclusively with the films themselves.
Nightwalkers is by no means visually dull, however; movie stills abound
and there is a center section with a fine variety of posters, color stills, and
lobby card repros.
Nightwalkers has a brief prologue regarding the nature of gothic horror
and its history in both literature and film. Wright’s obvious understanding of
the importance of the literary source material to the films within the genre
allows him to analyze the pictures without being myopically shackled by a
purely filmic perspective. The author then gives a thumbnail (well, maybe
talon-sized) account of the rise of the House of Hammer, the studio that
accounted for more horror films during the period than any other, before moving
on to deal with AIP and William Castle. Subsequent chapters cover subjects by
monster (Dracula, Dr. Frankenstein, ghosts, miscellaneous vampires) or literary
source material. Each movie is discussed at length and rated. Wright’s
critiques of the films are based on his extensive knowledge of and affection
for the genre. He also lambastes the many clunkers that staggered corpselike
through theaters and were horrific only in their execution. Although
Nightwalkers is not quite as amusing a read as Yesterday’s
Tomorrows, Wright still manages to make observations that are both dead-on
and hilarious. When describing Nick Adams’ performance in Die, Monster
Die, he notes that the actor “fills the role of Steve Reinhart like
caulking compound.” Oh, so true. Although few films, such as Dark
Intruder, don’t receive any discussion, there’s little room to argue with
most of what Wright has to say.
The finest film work of Price, Cushing, Lee, Fisher, and Corman are all given
stellar coverage in Nightwalkers. The horror movies represented here, as
Wright points out, have acquired “a fine patina of age on themselves, settling
into respectability despite their disreputable origins.” Wright has done a much
more than respectable job on Nightwalkers. I recommend it to fans of the
genre without reservation. — Bud Simons
This article appears in December 1 • 1995 and December 1 • 1995 (Cover).